Home Office

Human Trafficking: Children

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 16 October 2014 to question 209897, how many of the 88 minors who are non-UK nationals and were recorded as victims of sexual trafficking in the most recent figures still reside in the UK.

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department has in place to assist non-UK minors who are trafficked into the UK for sex.

Karen Bradley: The Government acknowledge that where children are found to be trafficked, their safety and welfare needs must be addressed as a priority and that child victims require tailored support which addresses their specific needs and vulnerabilities. All local agencies have statutory duties to safeguard children as part of their local responsibilities regardless of nationality or immigration status. A child’s welfare is always the overriding consideration. Responsibility for the care, protection and accommodation of all child trafficking victims rests with local authorities that have well-established child support arrangements and a statutory duty under the Children Act 2004 to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children in need of protection, including trafficked children regardless of their nationality or immigration status. Under these arrangements, looked after children are provided with access to services to meet all their needs be they in relation to education, accommodation, psychological or health.Information as to the location of victims of trafficking, including children, is not held centrally once their status as a victim has been confirmed. This is because the National Crime Agency's UK Human Trafficking Centre has no further role in the process and support is provided by other partners, most notably local authorities in relation to children. The Review of the National Referral Mechanism recommendsthat the Government introduces improved arrangements for tracking victims following an NRM decision and the Government is currently considering its response to the review.In January 2014 the Government announced proposals to trial specialist independent advocates for trafficked children. The trial, which began on 8 September 2014, will last for a period of 12 months across 23 local authorities in England. The Modern Slavery Bill gives these advocates a statutory basis and the status they need to effectively support and represent the child. The Bill commits the Government to lay a report before Parliament setting out the steps the Government will take in relation to advocates for victims of child trafficking under these powers. Lessons learned from the trials will be detailed in the report, at which point we will be in a better position to assess what works best in supporting and protecting these vulnerable children.

Arrest Warrants

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) British nationals and (b) other people have had their extradition from the UK under a European arrest warrant blocked under the proportionality test in section 21A of the Extradition Act 2003 since that Act came into force.

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) British nationals and (b) other people have had their extradition from the UK under a European arrest warrant blocked under the provisions of section 12A of the Extradition Act 2003 since that section came into force.

Jacob Rees-Mogg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) British nationals and (b) other people have been extradited from the UK under a European arrest warrant since sections 156 and 157 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 came into force.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 04 November 2014



More than 95% of people surrendered under an Arrest Warrant over the past five years have been foreign citizens. Since the reforms in section 21A of the Extradition Act 2003 came into force on 21 July 2014 no Arrest Warrants have been refused to be certified by the National Crime Agency for British nationals, and 21 Arrest Warrants have been refused to be certified for foreign nationals on thebasis of proportionality. Given the estimated cost of £13,000 for processing an Arrest Warrant, savings in excess of £273,000 are likely to have been made to the taxpayer as a result of those refusals.Since 21 July 2014 no Arrest Warrants have been discharged by the courts under charge and try provisions, as set out in section 156 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 which inserts section 12A into the Extradition Act 2003. Given this provision is a decision for the courts and has only been in force for three months, we expect that the position will change as individual cases are appealed to higher courts. Since 21 July 2014, 15 British nationals and 287 foreign nationals have been surrendered from the UK to other Member States under an Arrest Warrant. The offences for which British nationals have been surrendered are as follows:3 x Fraud2 x Drug trafficking2 x Grievous Bodily Harm 1 x Murder/Manslaughter 1 x Rape 1 x Serious Sexual Assault 1 x Immigration & Human Trafficking 1 x Evasion of Duty - over £100,000 1 x Fraud - over £100,000 1 x Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm 1 x Drugs Offences

Arrest Warrants

Sir Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many requests each police force in England has made for European arrest warrants for the extradition of individuals elsewhere in the European Union for return to the UK since July 2014.

Sir Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many European arrest warrant requests have been rejected since July 2014.

Sir Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons European arrest warrants have been rejected since July 2014.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 04 November 2014



Between 21 July 2014 and 31 October 2014, 48 Arrest Warrants have been issued on behalf of police forces in England. This breaks down as follows: Arrest Warrants issued to other Member States, by Force AreaTotalAvon & Somerset2Bedfordshire1Cambridgeshire0Cheshire1Cleveland0Cumbria0Derbyshire0Devon & Cornwall2Dorset1Durham1Essex Police0Gloucestershire0Greater Manchester0Hampshire2Hertfordshire1Humberside0Kent1Lancashire2Leicestershire1Lincolnshire0London - Metropolitan10City of London Police0Merseyside9Norfolk0North Yorkshire3Northamptonshire0Northumbria1Nottinghamshire1South Yorkshire0Staffordshire2Suffolk0Surrey0Sussex2Thames Valley1Warwickshire0West Mercia0West Midlands2West Yorkshire2Wiltshire0Total48 These figures have been provided by the National Crime Agency and are not validated. It will be subject to further verification and end-of-year validation and so may change. Between 21 July 2014 and 31 October 2014, the National Crime Agency has refused to certify 59 Arrest Warrants. Of those, 21 Arrest Warrants have been refused on the basis that the person’s extradition would be disproportionate. This includes for non-payment of child maintenance and using forged banks note to the value of around 31 pounds to pay for goods in a shop. A further 38 Arrest Warrants because have been refused on the basis that they would obviously be refused by the courts for a failure to establish dual criminality.

Public Appointments

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions her Department has had requests for appointments by exception to the Senior Civil Service turned down by the Civil Service Commission since 2010; and who was appointed for each such post.

Karen Bradley: As set out by the Minister for the Cabinet Office on (10 November 2014 213040), the Civil Service Commission publish details of appointments made by exception and approved by them in their annual reports and on their website. These reports are available in the Library of the House. It would not be appropriate to publish by individual departments details of the requests turned down by the Commission as the numbers involved are so small.

Pay

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Instant Rewards of what value were given to her Department's officials in (a) 2013 and (b) 2014 to date.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office thank you voucher scheme is intended to reward staff quickly for outstanding achievement over and above normal good performance. Staff can receive either a £25 or £50 voucher for each piece of work being rewarded.Thank you vouchers have been ordered to a total value of £91,035 for 2013 and £135,490 for 2014 to date.

Immigration Controls: France

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with its French counterpart on the continued presence of UK border officials at Calais.

Charlie Elphicke: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions her Department has had with its French counterpart on the Le Touquet Treaty.

James Brokenshire: It is in the joint interest of the United Kingdom and France to work together to tackle the pressures on the port of Calais. France is a member of the Schengen area while the UK is not.The UK works closely and collaboratively with the French authorities on all matters of border security and cross border criminality to maintain the integrity of our joint border controls and we have regular discussions to support this work.

UK Border Agency

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans she has to replace the current Border Force cutters; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: Border Force are examining requirements for the next generation of cutters to ensure a comprehensive and continuing capability to support the delivery of the National Strategy for Maritime Security.

Entry Clearances: Russia

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of the people named in the European Magnitsky Recommendation were granted UK visas in each of the last three years.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 11 November 2014



The Home Office do not routinely comment on individual immigration cases. The Home Office has obligations in law to protect this information. The Immigration Rules allow us to deny entry to those whose presence in this country is not considered to be conducive to the public good and the Home Secretary has the power personally to exclude an individual from the UK. If we received a visa application from an individual whose name was published on the EU list, then this would be considered in our decision on whether to grant a visa.

Entry Clearances: Russia

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many of the people named on the US Magnitsky list were granted UK visas in each of the last three years.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 11 November 2014



If an individual on the US Cardin list applied for a visa, we would consider this in our decision on whether to grant entry clearance to the UK.We cannot provide further details as we do not routinely comment on individual immigration cases. The Home Office has obligations in law to protect this information. The Immigration Rules allow us to deny entry to those whose presence in this country is not considered to be conducive to the public good and the Home Secretary has the power personally to exclude an individual from the UK.

Offences against Children: Databases

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which body set up the National Image Hashing Database; which agency hosts that Database; and who is responsible for meeting its costs.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 11 November 2014



The interim National Hash Set Database was set up by the combined effort of the National Policing Improvement Agency, Home Office Scientific Development Branch, Association of Chief Police Officers Digital Forensics Triage group, and law enforcement agencies including the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre. Cheshire Constabulary host and operate the database. It is funded from the National Cyber Security Programme.

Offences against Children: Databases

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether image data held by the Childbase database was transferred to the National Image Hashing Database; and whether international images of online child abuse identified by (a) the Internet Watch Foundation and (b) Interpol are placed on the National Image Hashing Database.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 11 November 2014



Childbase was a system to hold illegal images of children for the purposes of victim identification within the former Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre. The Childbase database ceased to be active in 2011 and is no longer live. The images held on Childbase were transferred to a standalone system in CEOP and no images or data was lost as a result of the decommissioning of Childbase.The interim National Hash Set Database (iNHSD) holds hashes of images seized by UK forces. In 2012, at the inception of the iNHSD in Cheshire Police, all of CEOP’s images were transferred to it. The National Crime Agency’s CEOP Command has also contributed all of its images to the iNHSD. It is not possibleto say categorically whether any of these hash sets would have originated from Interpol partners or the Internet Watch Foundation.

Travel Restrictions

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Answer of 7 July 2010 to Question 5608, on how many occasions visa bans have been used to prevent people from each country of origin considered to be involved in corruption from travelling to the UK in the period since that Answer was given.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 11 November 2014



Since July 2010, two people have been excluded by the Secretary of State for corruption. It would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold to provide a further breakdown of how many people have been denied a visa to travel to the UK due to corruption. Any application for entry clearance or leave to enter from a person who has been excluded from the UK by the Secretary of State must be refused under the Immigration Rules.

Department for Transport

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Mr David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department has allocated to each local authority in England and Wales for road improvement in each year since 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government is committed to improving the local road network. Road improvements in Wales are a devolved matter and therefore the responsibility of the Welsh Government. The attached table includes funding we have provided through the local Highways Maintenance Block, Integrated Transport Block, Severe Weather Funding, Local Major Projects and Local Pinch Point Fund schemes. The table does not include funding provided through the Bus Service Operators Grant, Local Sustainable Transport Fund, or Cycling Grant. The Department is also funding local highways maintenance projects in Portsmouth, Birmingham, Sheffield, Isle of Wight and the London Borough of Hounslow through the Private Finance Initiative. Local authorities are also able to use revenue funding, allocated by the Department of Communities and Local Government through the Revenue Support Grant for maintaining their local highways. It is for local highway authorities to decide upon their spending priorities across the whole range of services that they provide.  



212882_Funding allocated for road improvements
(Word Document, 139 KB)

HM Treasury

Working Tax Credit: Merseyside

Mr Frank Field: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many children aged eight to 17 years old there are in Merseyside in households in receipt of working tax credit and earning below £16,000.

Priti Patel: As of April 2014, there were 37,100 children aged eight to seventeen years old in families from the Merseyside Local Authority area in receipt of Working Tax Credit with a household income below £16,000. This figure includes children from families in receipt of both Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. Not all families included in this figure will have received the same level of entitlement, as the Working Tax Credit element is tapered away if the household income is greater than £6,420.

Devolution: Greater London

Mr David Lammy: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the Government plans to devolve new fiscal powers to the Greater London Authority.

Danny Alexander: The Government has already devolved significant powers and responsibilities to London. The Government passed responsibility for housing, economic development and the Olympic legacy to London through the Localism Act 2011, in addition to transport, planning and the police already controlled by the Mayor. The Government keeps all decisions on tax policy under review.

Economic Situation: Northern Ireland

Mr Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on its financial position.

Danny Alexander: Treasury ministers have discussions with the Northern Ireland Executive from time to time on a range of financial issues.

Mortgages

Richard Graham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority (a) on the clarity of and (b) improving competition in the mortgage market.

Richard Graham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received about the clarity of fees and charges and ease of comparison in the mortgage market.

Richard Graham: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with the mortgage industry and consumer groups about making price comparison easier for consumers.

Andrea Leadsom: Treasury Ministers and officials regularly meet with a range of stakeholders to discuss mortgage policy issues, including regulators, industry representatives and consumer groups, amongst others.   The Government is committed to ensuring fair and effective competition across all financial services markets. It has established the independent Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and given them the responsibility, enshrined in law, to promote effective competition in the interest of consumers. The FCA has the power to create, supervise and enforce any rules it feels are needed to promote consumer protection, transparency and competition.

Mortgages

Mr Frank Field: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to improve transparency of mortgage fees and charges.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is committed to ensuring fair and effective competition across all financial services markets. It has established the independent Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and given them the responsibility, enshrined in law, to promote effective competition in the interest of consumers. The FCA has the power to create, supervise and enforce any rules it thinks are needed to promote consumer protection, transparency and competition, including with respect to mortgage fees and charges.

Climate Change

David T. C. Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the total amount of money spent across Government annually on measures mitigating climate change.

Priti Patel: The 2011 Carbon Plan sets the Government’s approach to meeting our domestic carbon budgets including aggregate costs of the current policy package. The Carbon Plan will be updated once the fifth carbon budget has been set in 2016, in accordance with the requirements of the 2008 Climate Change Act.

Mortgages

Steve Baker: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the transparency of mortgage pricing; and if he will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is committed to ensuring fair and effective competition across all financial services markets. It has established the independent Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and given them the responsibility, enshrined in law, to promote effective competition in the interest of consumers. The FCA has the power to create, supervise and enforce any rules it thinks are needed to promote consumer protection, transparency and competition, including with respect to the transparency of mortgage pricing.

Credit: Interest Rates

Chris Ruane: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will commission research on the effects of levels of advertising by payday loan companies on average levels of personal debt.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is committed to tackling consumer harm in the payday lending market wherever it occurs, including in the marketing of payday loans.   Payday loan adverts are subject to the Advertising Standards Authority’s (ASA) strict content rules. The ASA enforces the rules set out in the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising. The Code requires that all adverts are socially responsible, and prohibits lenders from deliberately targeting vulnerable people.   The ASA has powers to ban adverts which do not meet its rules, and has a strong track record of doing so - since April 2013, the ASA has banned 25 payday loan adverts.   The FCA has also introduced robust new rules for payday loan adverts, including the introduction of mandatory risk warnings and a requirement to signpost to free debt advice. The FCA also has powers to ban misleading adverts which breach its rules.

Tobacco

Philip Davies: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department and its agencies have made of the effect of the Local Government Declaration on Tobacco Control on his Department's Tackling Tobacco Smuggling strategy.

Priti Patel: HM Revenue & Customs has made no assessment of the effect of the Local Government Declaration on Tobacco Control on the Tackling Tobacco Smuggling strategy.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Burkina Faso

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the political situation in Burkina Faso.

James Duddridge: We were deeply concerned by the violence and uncertainty in Burkina Faso, caused by President Blaise Compaoré’s attempt to change the constitution in order to seek a third term, and the subsequent installation of a military government.We strongly support the efforts of the African Union, Economic Community of West African States and the United Nations to bring about a peaceful, civilian-led and democratic transition process, leading to free and fair elections as soon as possible. We call on the Burkinabe military authorities to work swiftly with all parts of society to that end.

Burkina Faso

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what support his Department is providing to assist the holding of democratic elections in Burkina Faso as quickly as possible.

James Duddridge: We have called on all parties in Burkina Faso to work together to launch a peaceful, civilian-led and democratic transition process leading to the holding of free and fair elections as soon as possible. We strongly support the leadership of the African Union, Economic Community of West African States and the United Nations in achieving that goal.

Nigeria

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of suicide bombings on the stability of Nigeria since the beginning of 2014.

James Duddridge: Nigeria faces a serious threat from Boko Haram attacks, including suicide bombings.We believe that more than 3,000 people have been killed by Boko Haram this year, and over 1.5 million have been displaced.The UK condemns these acts of terrorism. We continue to support Nigeria’s work to tackle insecurity and prevent the spread of terrorism. This includes training and advice to Nigerian units deployed against Boko Haram; support to the Nigerian government in bringing increased development and prosperity to the North East; and a commitment to draw one million more children into education in Northern Nigeria by 2020.I led the UK delegation to a meeting of regional foreign minister in Abuja on 3 September, where I emphasised the importance of regional coordination and focus to end the threat posed by Boko Haram.

Armed Conflict: Sexual Offences

Mr Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress he has made on implementing the International Protocol on the Documentation and Investigation of Sexual Violence in Conflict; and what steps he is taking to help other governments prevent and prosecute those responsible for sexual violence in conflict.

James Duddridge: We are implementing the Protocol through advocacy, capacity building and national application. We have translated the Protocol into French, Spanish, Bosnian and Arabic to ensure it is as widely used as possible. We are developing a set of training materials to support its use, regional training modules on how to implement the Protocol in different local contexts, and a series of bespoke training packages. This includes developing long-term training, mentoring and support programmes on documentation and investigation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; providing financial support to the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Casa de La Mujer to implement the Protocol in Colombia; planning a year-long training project for local human rights NGOs and lawyers in Nepal and hosting launch events in Bosnia to raise the profile of the Protocol amongst government, judicial and NGO partners. These plans will help support governments and civil society organisations to be able to prevent and prosecute sexual violence crimes.

Department of Health

Asthma: Drugs

Liz Kendall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the Government has spent on the development of new drugs to treat the symptoms of asthma in each of the last five years.

George Freeman: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 29 October 2014.The correct answer should have been:

The following table shows estimated expenditure on research on asthma, motor neurone disease (MND) and osteoporosis by the Medical Research Council, other Research Councils and Innovate UK, and by the National Institute for Health (NIHR) through its research programmes, research centres and units, and research fellowships.   £ million  2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-14AsthmaMedical Research Council22.2 6.617.5 5.317.2 4.519.4 3.618.8 5.4Other Research Councils and Innovate UK0.00.10.31.50.8National Institute for Health Research2.63.42.43.43.8Total24.8 9.221.0 8.819.9 7.224.3 8.523.4 10.0Motor Neurone ResearchMedical Research Council7.07.54.24.13.6Other Research Councils and Innovate UK0.20.20.40.71.0National Institute for Health Research0.10.10.40.70.5Total7.37.85.05.55.1OsteoporosisMedical Research Council6.25.45.14.65.9Other Research Councils and Innovate UK0.00.00.10.41.0National Institute for Health Research0.30.70.81.31.8Total6.56.16.06.38.7   The figures shown for asthma exclude research into air pollution and potential effects on health outcomes including asthma.   Total spend by the NIHR on asthma, MND and osteoporosis is higher than the figures shown because expenditure by the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) on these diseases cannot be disaggregated from total CRN expenditure. NIHR expenditure relating to development of new drugs for asthma, MND and osteroporosis occurs primarily through NIHR research infrastructure including the CRN and cannot be disaggregated from total expenditure.   Information on MRC expenditure into the development of new drugs for asthma, MND or osteoporosis is not available.

George Freeman: The following table shows estimated expenditure on research on asthma, motor neurone disease (MND) and osteoporosis by the Medical Research Council, other Research Councils and Innovate UK, and by the National Institute for Health (NIHR) through its research programmes, research centres and units, and research fellowships.   £ million  2009-102010-112011-122012-132013-14AsthmaMedical Research Council22.2 6.617.5 5.317.2 4.519.4 3.618.8 5.4Other Research Councils and Innovate UK0.00.10.31.50.8National Institute for Health Research2.63.42.43.43.8Total24.8 9.221.0 8.819.9 7.224.3 8.523.4 10.0Motor Neurone ResearchMedical Research Council7.07.54.24.13.6Other Research Councils and Innovate UK0.20.20.40.71.0National Institute for Health Research0.10.10.40.70.5Total7.37.85.05.55.1OsteoporosisMedical Research Council6.25.45.14.65.9Other Research Councils and Innovate UK0.00.00.10.41.0National Institute for Health Research0.30.70.81.31.8Total6.56.16.06.38.7   The figures shown for asthma exclude research into air pollution and potential effects on health outcomes including asthma.   Total spend by the NIHR on asthma, MND and osteoporosis is higher than the figures shown because expenditure by the NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) on these diseases cannot be disaggregated from total CRN expenditure. NIHR expenditure relating to development of new drugs for asthma, MND and osteroporosis occurs primarily through NIHR research infrastructure including the CRN and cannot be disaggregated from total expenditure.   Information on MRC expenditure into the development of new drugs for asthma, MND or osteoporosis is not available.